Casket mattress



C. D. JARVIS GASKET MATTRESS 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Aug. 24,. 1953 l f d Nov. 11, 1958 c. D. JARvls GASKET MATTRESS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 24, 1953 nite States Patent() 2,859,505 oAsknr sftnrrnnss Cleo ll). Jarvis, Park Ridge, lIll.

Application August 24, 1953, Serial No. 376,081

1 Claim. (Cl. 27-12) I.

This invention relates to a casket mattress and more particularly to a casket mattress so constructed and arranged as to permit adjustment of the body in the casket and to iirmly hold the body in adjusted position.

It is the general object of this invention to produce a new and improved casket mattress of the character described.

It has been customary to furnish caskets with thin, relatively inexpensive, cotton pads to serve as mattresses. Such mattresses are relatively heavy and serve little or no purpose other than to aid in the sales of caskets by their inclusion as a part thereof. The normal cotton mattress, while providing a relatively sott platform for the body, occasionally becomes contaminated due to the leakage of iluids from the body of the deceased and often must be replaced, particularly where the body is to lie in state for several days.

Caskets are normally built to standard sizes and the mortician is often faced with the problem of trying correctly to position the body in the casket to present the deceased in the most favorable position. This task is sometimes dicult inasmuch as the deceased might have been an extremely paunchy, heavy individual or a slight, slim person. In the former case the paunch becomes extremely noticeable when the deceased is laid out in the casket, while in the-latter case the deceased seems to be almost invisible therein.

According to the present invention, however, there is provided a mattress which may be adjusted to elevate the entire body, if it be that of a slight person, or to relatively elevate and depress portions of the body so as to present the deceased in a more favorable position. Furthermore, the mattress of the present invention may be made of sanitary plastic material which is readily cleaned and thus need not be replaced even though iluids are exuded from the body but rather need merely be cleaned. An additional feature of the mattress of the present invention is that by its construction it may serve more rmly to support the body in position in the casket so that jostling, etc. in handling or shipping the casket does not disturb the remains.

Other features and advantages of the casket mattress of the present invention will be readily apparent from the following description and drawings, in which:

Fig. l is an end view showing a portion of a casket in cross-section together with the mattress of the present invention in use therein;

Fig. 2 is a view like Fig. l showing the mattress in a dilerently adjusted condition;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of one form of mattress of the present invention;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a view like Fig. 3 showing a modified form of construction.

While this invention is susceptible of embodiments in many different forms, there are shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail several embodiments, with the understanding that the present disclosure is to 2 be considered as an exempliiication of the principles of th invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiments illustrated. The scope of the invention will be pointed out in the appended claim. j

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, there is shown -arcasket, generally designated 10, having side walls 11 and 12 and a bottom 13; Padding and decorative covering indicated at 14 may be provided along the inner side walls of the casket. casket there is placed the mattress of the present invenv tion, generally designated therein as 20, withlfthe mattress comprising three elongated air chambers designated 21', 22 and 23, each separate from the other and joined together along their mating edges to form a single mattress. Preferably the mattress, when unintlated, has a length of 72 inches and a width of 36 inches, making each of the sections 21-23 12 inches in width. When inflated the width of the sections decreases so that when installed in a casket as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the width is approximately 24 inches.

Each of the sections is provided with valve means, indicated at 25, 26 and 27, so that the sections may be individually inflated. The degree of ination of each of the sections relative to the other and the total inflation of all of the sections may be utilized to correctly position the remains in the casket. Thus, if the deceased was a relatively slight person who would normally lie very low in the casket, each of the sections may be inflated quite fully, as indicated in Fig. 1, so as to raise the entire body to a more favorable position. On the other hand, if the deceased Was a relatively paunchy individual the normal cotton mattress would accentuate the paunch, displaying the remains in a most unfavorable manner. With the mattress of the present invention, however, the center section 22, as seen in Fig. 2, may be less inilated than the two adjoining sections 21 and 23. Thus, the center portion of the body ot the deceased is at a depressed position relative to the side portions, including the shoulders. Thus, this arrangement serves to elevate the shoulders and at the same time to depress the abdomen.

Itis of course clear that should the deceased have been a relatively large person, although not unduly overweight, the various sections may be inflated to a lesser degree, thus lowering the entire body in the casket.

A somewhat modified form of mattress is shown in Fig. 5, the mattress, generally indicated at 30, therein comprising three sections 31, 32 and 33, with the section 32 being contoured generally to the shape of the body having a narrow portion 32a near the neck region, a somewhat larger portion 32b at the region of the shoulders, a second constricted portion 32e at the waist, and again an enlarged or widened portion 32d at the higs. This particular configuration again assists in the adjustment of the body in the casket. The outer sections 31 and 33 have their outer edges straight while their inner edges of course conform to the edge of the inner section 32 so as, when completely assembled, to present an over-al1 generally rectangular mattress.

Each of the sections 31-33 is provided with valve means 3S, 36 and 37 so as to permit ination of each of the sections, with the degree of inflation depending upon the circumstances to be met.

As previously noted, the mattress is preferably made of a plastic material so as to be non-absorbent, and if desired may be covered with a velvet or silk covering, indicated at 39 in Figs. 1 and 2.

Being made preferably of plastic material, and in any event being inatable, the mattress of the present invention is relatively light as compared with the cotton mattress previously employed, and thus a good deal of expense in shipping caskets may be avoided. Furthermore, the mattress, when inflated as indicated in Fig. 2, serves Patented Nov. 11, 19584 In the bottom of the more iirmly to anchor the body in the casket as its flexible construction permits it -more closely to conform to the body of the deceased and to bulge out around portions such as the edges of the bodyand shoulders so as firmly to holdthe body in' position;HA

A casketmatt-res'scomprising-three elongated tubes of plastic material joined together along their edges to form a substantially"rectangular mattress with'V the inner ofV said sectionsV beingl shapedto conform substantially Y to the shape/of a-bodyland with the outer -sections having their outeredgessubstantially linear and their inner edges conforming tothe edge-ofthe inner section, and valvefmeans on each l:of said tubes for introducing air thereinto to inate'the tubes.'I f

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Haller May 24, 1955 Zwack Aug. 6, 1895 OKane Mar. 9, 1926 Harris Nov. 23, 1937 Neal Aug. 26, 1941 Perry Mar. 28, 1944 Kavanagh Ian. 15, 1952 Bishop Ian. 24, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain an. 6, 1892 France Apr. 8, 1953 

